


Therapeutic Stress Baking

by Saturn_Is_Silent



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Baking, Fluff, Gen, Post-Episode s05e29-32 Change Your Mind, Stress Baking, no beta we die like men, therapeutic baking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 09:56:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19315816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saturn_Is_Silent/pseuds/Saturn_Is_Silent
Summary: Steven and Yellow try their hand at a little therapeutic stress baking.





	Therapeutic Stress Baking

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone,
> 
> Whenever I talk about Steven Universe, I always say that it’s basically a show about a 14 year old boy playing babysitter and therapist to a bunch of immortal-intergalactic-super-powered-polymorphic-sentient-space rocks with thousands of years of alien baggage, and since Yellow Diamond is one of my favorite characters, I just really wanted for her to basically have a therapy session with Steven. Also, I’ve been doing a lot of baking recently so all of these ideas just got mashed up in my head and this is the sludge that came out. This is the first fanfiction I’ve ever written so sorry if a bit all over the place in some ways or if the formatting is wrong. Any feedback is appreciated, and sorry in advance for any spelling or grammar mistakes.
> 
> Also, I'm not a therapist in any sense of the word. I just wanted for them to have a healthy dialogue whilst baking because I find baking really therapeutic. 
> 
> This is set a good while after Change Your Mind.
> 
> I don't own Steven Universe or any of it's characters.

In the dimly lit control room of her arm-ship, Yellow Diamond sat before a truly impressive array of holo-screens. Her eyes had long since glazed over as they scanned over report after report from her colony leads. On Delta-765, the first batch of Era Three Citrines had emerged and were awaiting instruction. On her Primary Asteroid Mine, the lead Bismuth had finished the overall design for the new recreation spire and was awaiting approval. Blue was on diplomatic mission attempting to establish trade with a newly discovered alien race, leaving White alone on Homeworld, prompting a non-stop stream of questions from the out-of-touch Diamond about various affairs she was not caught up on. The list went on and on.

 

As a matter of fact, it was Blue who had burst into her spacious control room on Homeworld and demanded she take a break, shipping her off to Earth to visit with Steven. And the golden Diamond had intended to, but there was simply too much going on that required her attention.

 

Before her eyes, the holo-screen on the left flashed bright alerting her to another ten reports sent by the Agate on Era Two colony Beta-356 requesting input on the appropriate allocation of resources for the reverse colonization process. The pounding in her head increased to a dull throb, and she closed her eyes pinching the bridge of her nose trying to avoid the headache. She would never admit it, but as much as she supported the changes of Era Three and the new freedoms it brought her gems, she could not deny that the changes had brought with it a nearly insurmountable amount of work and stress. And it wasn’t as if her workload had been at all light before Era Three, but now it had at least been doubled. Secretly, she longed for a time when everything was set and routine, when there weren’t so many new variables to complicate systems that had been in place for eons. But, then there had been Pink, and with that thought came a long familiar pang of loss one she’d buried for thousands of years, and through Pink came Steven and through Steven came change. Changes she now supported for the betterment of gem kind. She just had to grit her teeth bare it for now. With that assertion she sat up and opened another report. Behind her, the door slid open with a pneumatic hiss. The tell-tale rhythmic _fwip-fwip-fwip_ off flip-flops on the smooth stone floor alerted her their owner. They stopped at the base of her chair.

 

“Hi, Yellow,”

 

“Steven.” Yellow acknowledged without looking down at the boy standing there. “Is there something you need?”

 

Steven chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, when your ship landed on the beach, I really wanted to come say 'Hi' but Pearl said I was being overzealous and that you’d come out when your ready. But that was, like, three days ago, so I just wanted to come check on you.” At this, the monarch did look down at the boy with a raised eyebrow. Check on her? Steven saw her expression and grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, I know. It’s just, well, I know that you, White, and Blue have been making an effort of come see Earth and get to know it and everything. But, I also know that Earth is where a lot of bad things have happened, some recently and some not so recently.” Steven frowned and began to fiddle with his hands. “Anyway, I know that it might be hard for you, and I just wanted to let you know it’s alright if you’re not ready to be here, or if you’re not ready to be around me.”

 

Yellow felt a pang of guilt. She lowered her hand down for Steven to climb onto and raised him up to eye level. “Steven, I need to apologize. I did come here with the full intention of spending time with you and with the Earth, but I became distracted with my duties. It was not my intention to neglect you.”

 

The young boy immediately brightened. “Oh! It’s okay. I understand that you guys are really busy with Homeworld and stuff. Can you come hang out now?”

 

The Diamond opened her mouth to reply, but the screen on her right flashed alerting her to another set of reports from heads of the Tertiary Asteroid Mine. Yellow felt her frustration building, but she quickly clamped it down. She sighed. “I would like to Steven, but unfortunately too many things currently require my attention, perhaps another time.” She set him down on the armrest of her chair and moved to type a reply to the Asteroid Mine leads.

 

“Okay, but just one quick question?”

 

Yellow glanced at him. “Yes?”

 

“What does this mean?” Steven jumped to the console and pointed at a line of gem text on the report, and at that moment the boy reminded her of another small pink gem inquiring about her work. Yellow blinked. “Well, the Agate from my Tertiary Asteroid Mine is reporting on the stock of titanium mined last cycle. Here,” She pointed to the line he was pointing at, “She said that the stocks have been depleted 65% by the increased demand for new structures on Homeworld and recommends we deploy a new squad of Era Three Citrines to mine on what would otherwise be an off-day for the main group of Citrines assigned to the mine. She is right, this would help gain back the efficiency lost by the new laws about rest-days; however, she failed to take into account that the new Citrines are too fresh to be expected to mine and must first go through the new schooling period. Thus, we must come up with an alternative solution. Fortunately, my Peridots have been researching a new method of mining that will hopefully bridge our current efficiency gap.” Yellow typed back her reply and sent the report away.

 

Steven looked back up at her. “Yellow... you guys have new laws about gems having a break from work right?”

 

Yellow nodded, opening another report. “Yes, the new revelations of this era have shed light on the fact that the previous demand and pressure we had on our gems was unreasonable, unnecessary, and even damaging. Thus, in our reforms we tried to ensure that all gems have the time and means for recreation and relaxation. I have found the disposition of my gems to be better for it.” Though they did tend to further complicate her life, Yellow was proud of the reforms they had made for the betterment of her gems.

 

Steven frowned. “Well, what about you?” The monarch squinted at another report but raised her eyebrow in rely. “Don’t you get off-days?”

 

Yellow looked at him incredulously. “What do you mean?”

 

Steven sighed and jumped from the console to her armrest again. “Look Yellow, your ship landed here three days ago. Have you been working non-stop all that time?”

 

“Of course.”

 

Steven’s eyes widened. “Yellow that’s way too much! You need to take a break.”

 

The Diamond shook her head. “Steven, I appreciate your concern, but my position does not afford me breaks. There is too much to do, especially in this era of change. My gems need a leader who they can look to as these new laws take effect and old ones are destroyed. I simply don’t have time to step away.”

 

Steven walked over to her hand and laid his tiny one on hers. “So everyone gets a break except you? That’s not fair. Yellow, I understand that you're busy and that you're needed but even the most important people can’t be giving their energy all the time. Everyone has step away to take time for themselves at some point. You said your gems we’re stressed and overworked before Era Three, but so were you, and now you're even more stressed and overworked trying to pick up everyone else's slack. You’ve got to take time for yourself.”

 

Yellow sighed and looked down at him. “Steven, me performing my duties is absolutely necessary to the continued success of our empire. As one of its leaders, I need to continue to devote my energy to my people and the betterment of our kind.”

 

Steven shook his head stubbornly. “But, you’re important too. Not just to the empire, but you as a person. You should get to rest like everyone else.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “It’s like a pizza.” The boy drew a circle in the air with his hands. “Only half should be business,” he bisected the imaginary circle with his finger. “And the other half is personal. Personal Pizza.”

 

Yellow’s brow furrowed, what was he speaking of? “What is… Pizza?” Steven’s eyes widened. “What?! You don’t know what pizza is? It’s like baked dough, with tomato sauce and cheese, and you can put all sorts of amazing toppings on it like pepperoni or mushrooms!” Yellow’s confused look remained, and Steven chuckled sheepishly. “Oh yeah, you don’t know what any of those things are either.” Then the boy had a thought that made him brighten, and he grinned widely. “Why don’t I just show you?”

 

Yellow frowned. “Show me?”

 

Steven smiled and jumped in the air excitedly. “Yeah! Come with me and I’ll show you what pizza is. Surely you have a moment to step away and see what pizza is.”

 

Yellow looked at her screens and reports and grimaced; she really didn’t have a single moment to spare to see what pizza was. She opened her mouth to say as much, but then she saw how happy and excited Steven was. His giant beaming smile, and the stars in his eyes that reminded her so much of Pink and the regrets she still held when it came to her. She let a small smile take her face and nodded. “Yes, I think I can spare a moment to go see what pizza is.” If it was possible Steven’s smile got bigger.

 

“Yes! Let’s go!” He jumped down from her chair and began to run to the door. Yellow stood to follow the ecstatic boy. “Oh, your going to love pizza!”

 

Yellow looked down at Steven and smiled. “I’m sure I will Steven.”

 

++++

 

The midday sun glimmered off the ocean beside the beach house as Steven and Yellow trekked across the sand.

 

“One time, me, Dad, and Garnet went to the Keystone state to pick up some car wash brushes.”

 

The monarch looked down at him quizzically. “The Keystone state?”

 

The half gem bobbed his head up and down. “Yeah, the state named Keystone. Anyway, Dad went out to buy the brushes, and he came back with pizza for dinner, but it was _square!_ ” The boy said gesturing wildly.  

 

Yellow raised an eyebrow “...Does the nature of its shape affect the quality of pizza?”

 

Steven’s eyes went wide with disbelief. “YES! You can’t have square pizza! Pizza should only be circular. You’ll see once we get inside.” He said as he climbed up the stairs of the temple.

 

Yellow eyed the small entryway. “And how am I supposed to fit inside this small dwelling?”

 

Steven stopped in his tracks and turned to her sheepishly. “Oh, I didn’t think of that. Heh, uh,” The boy twiddled his fingers together. “Well, you could shape-shift…”

 

The Diamond fixed him with an unimpressed stare. Of all the indignities, it had been many thousands of years since she had shape-shifted. Memories from eons ago surfaced. Her and Blue young and freshly emerged experimenting with their powers. The swift and dangerous reprimand from White. _“You are Diamonds and Diamonds do not shape-shift, darlings. Your stature is a symbol of your status but If you are unsatisfied with you current forms I would be happy to offer you some assistance…”_ It was so long ago, some lessons were hard to unlearn. But things were changing and White, White wasn’t here; Steven was.

 

Yellow sighed. “If I must.”

 

Steven beamed. “Yes! I’m so excited! You know, when I was first learning about gems and fusion, I was really excited when Amethyst and Pearl were gonna fuse, ‘cause I wanted to see a giant woman. Gosh, I even wrote a song about it. But now I know so many giant women…” The half gem ran a hand over his hair with a far off look in his eyes.

 

The monarch eyed the door again then snorted. “Well, don’t become too excited. This will be anything but glamorous. Don’t laugh.” With that, she reach deep inside her gem and called on the seldom used power. Her form began to glow, shrinking down smaller and smaller around the large gemstone that was the core of her being. Finally, the glowing stopped, and her form solidified.

 

Steven looked down at the Diamond, now nothing more than four limbs and a head sticking out from a massive golden gemstone, and promptly fell over, howling with laughter. Yellow scowled, carefully climbing the wooden stairs of the beach house and stood over the laughing boy, hands on hips… or facets. “I find your reaction excessive.”

 

The half human continued to wheeze on the wooden planks of the beach house. “Y-Your gem is so large!” He wiped a tear of laughter away from his face and sat up still giggling.

 

“Have you finished?”

 

Steven rose to his feet a chuckle still on his lips. “Yeah, I’m done. Wow,” he circled the golden gem with stars in his eyes. “Your gem is so pretty.”

 

Yellow couldn't tell if the heat rising in her cheeks was from the sun reflecting off the increased surface area of her gem or from something else. “Yes well, I believe you were going to show me pizza.”

 

The boy jolted. “Oh right, come on in.” Steven held the door open for the monarch to pass through.

 

++++

 

The air inside the beach house was cool as the Diamond looked around the dwelling. Steven entered behind her after propping open the door and yelped racing over to some shirts strewn outside of his closet, frantically folding them and putting them inside. “Sorry about the mess! I was looking for this old board game I used to play but it must be in Dad’s van.” The boy closed the closet and walked over to the kitchen.

 

Yellow hummed. “And where are the others?”

 

Steven stepped onto a stool to accesses a higher cabinet. “Oh, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl are over at the new Crystal Gem temple for the next few days.” The boy took out a white paper sack and set it on the counter before going back for more containers. “Apparently there was some incident with Biggs and Snowflake that they needed extra help resolving, but Lion is here though. Hi Lion!”

 

Steven waved to the large pink feline curled up on his bed. Lion opened one eye and looked at Steven before closing it. Steven sighed. “He loves me.”

 

Yellow walked over to the counter. “So where is this pizza?”

 

Steven grinned sheepishly. “Well, I was going to order pizza, but I just remembered that Fish-Stew Pizza is closed for today. Then, I thought we could just make pizza, but we don’t have any yeast.” Steven tapped his chin thoughtfully. “But luckily for us, I think we have everything here to bake a cake!”

 

Yellow felt the exasperation over take her. “A cake. Steven, I cannot continue to indulge this. My duties require my time and attention. I have wasted enough time as it is.”

 

Steven shook his head and placed his hands on the counter. “Oh come on Yellow, spending time on yourself is not a waste of time. I know you're stressed out. I mean, I get stressed out sometimes just trying to deal with some of the uncorrupted gems. I can’t imagine having to lead an entire court and all your colonies and asteroid mines and stuff. Baking is a great way to relax, and you can’t really knock it until you try it.”

 

The boy looked up at her with pleading eyes so familiar it ached in the deepest recesses of her gem. The monarch sighed. “Very well. I suppose I can spare a bit more time.” Steven giggled happily. “Great, you’re gonna love it! Let’s get started!”

 

++++

 

The half human rummaged through a drawer and then marched back over brandishing a scrap of paper. “Lars gave me this recipe from his secret cookbook a few months ago. It turned out pretty well.”

 

Yellow looked at the list skeptically. “What exactly is ‘baking?’”

 

Steven walked over to a metal contraption that appeared to be some kind of heating element and pressed a few buttons. “It’s a method of food preparation, but baking is special.” He gestured to the assortment of items on the counter. “We’ll combine all of these ingredients and they’ll become something better than the some of their parts.”

 

The monarch picked up a container of what appeared to be some kind of white powder. “And this happens spontaneously?”

 

Steven laughed and took a large bowl out of a cabinet. “No of course not. It’s chemistry, but that’s not really the point. Baking helps clear the mind. To take random things and combine them into something new and beautiful and different is an experience. It’s kind of like making a fusion almost. Here,” He handed her a bowl. You can combine the dry ingredients. Use the measuring cups to measure out the flour, and then use these measuring spoons to measure the salt and baking powder.” As he said this he pointed to the ingredients and the list of measurements on the paper.

 

The flour turned out to be another fine white powder. Yellow frowned as she spooned the flour haphazardly into the cup marked with the symbol that matched the one on the paper Steven had.

 

“So, how are White and Blue doing?” Steven asked as he tossed a yellow stick marked ‘butter’ into a bowl.

 

Yellow sighed. “Blue has been extremely busy with her diplomatic endeavors, and White, White is still adjusting to the many changes of Era Three.”

 

Steven hummed as he began to mix the butter together with a grainy white substance from a sack labeled ‘sugar.’ “I guess that makes sense, what with White being the oldest gem and all. Change must be hard for her. I mean it’s hard for me, and I’m barely 15 years old.” He said with a chuckle.

 

Yellow grunted, filling a heaping spoon with the baking powder and tossing it into her bowl. “I imagine it is, but I do wish she would try harder to keep up. She seems content to remain dependent on Blue and I for the majority of leadership. Never mind, that she has been neglecting everything for the past few eons.” The salt went into the bowl next.

 

Steven turned to look at her. “What was she like before?”

 

She began to vigorously mix the dry ingredients in accordance with the recipe. “When Blue and I first emerged, White was our mentor. She was the empire. She was the perfection we ascribed to be. She created us. For so much of my life I have done her bidding. She was my Diamond. And now, she can barely attend a court function without consulting one of us. Blue and I try to help her and care for her, but it never seems to work. She is always either stubborn or helpless, and I don’t know how to help her.”

 

Steven nodded thoughtfully. “I think I know how you feel. When I first joined the gems, I thought Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl were so cool. And they are, don’t get me wrong, but they’re also people. They can mess up and make mistakes and be wrong. They’ve changed a lot since I met them, and my perception of them has changed too. Not for the worse or anything, but now I feel like I don’t have to look up and aspire to be like them so much. I think because I feel better about me, I can be there more for them. Hand me two of those eggs.” He pointed to a carton full of white ovular shapes. “Be careful though, they’re super fragile.”

 

The eggs were smooth in her palm of her gloved hand. “How exactly does caring about oneself lead to being a better carer for others?”

 

Steven shrugged as he cracked one then two eggs into his bowl. “It’s something my Dad explained to me once. He said that if you’re constantly giving yourself a hard time you’re more likely to give other people a hard time. That’s why sometimes you gotta be selfish so you can be selfless later. For so long, I always wanted to be like my Mom, even wondered if I was her, but now I know that I’m not her; I’m me and I always have been. Now, I feel like I have more energy to be there for other people and just enjoy life more. And that’s all ‘cause I care about myself more.” Steven smiled wistfully. “Anyway, I guess my point is that maybe now you're seeing White for what she really is. A vulnerable person who can and has made mistakes. Maybe if you took better care of yourself, you could be there more for her.” He poured the flour mixture and the milk into his bowl.

 

Yellow looked at the boy and couldn’t help but feel a bit of awe at how he had acquired so much wisdom at a young age. “You’re right, I just wish she could be stronger for the sake of the empire at least.”

 

“Do you think that if she stepped up more you would feel less pressure.” He asked as he mixed the mixture together.

 

Yellow though about it for a second. “It’s not that I am unused to pressure; however, I feel a level of exasperation and quite frankly exhaustion, and her constant queries about the necessity of this new law or that is not helping my ability to continue leading.”

 

Steven nodded sympathetically. “Have you tried talking to her and telling her how you feel.”

 

“There is no time or place to do so.” And even if there was, was it her place to complain to White? That hadn’t exactly gone so well that last time her and Blue had attempted to do so.

 

“Hmm.” Steven hummed thoughtfully as he filled a separate container with the mix and put it in the heating element. “What if you guys took a vacation?”

 

Yellow again was confused at his Earth terms, “Vacation?”

 

The boy smiled widely. “Yes! An empire wide holiday that way everyone gets a break and you, White, and Blue could spend some time together and talk about what's going on. Oh, you could even come to earth."

 

Shutting down the empire for any amount of time seemed ridiculous. But so had baking, and the Diamond had to admit that the whole process had been quite therapeutic in a way. “Steven, perhaps I should take your advice. After all you were right about baking. I found it quite was quite soothing. I will be sure to put a "vacation" on the agenda for next Diamond meeting.”

 

The boy beamed. “Yes! I told you you would love baking.”

 

Yellow snorted. “Love is a strong word but it was pleasant.”

 

“Well don’t worry the best part is yet to come.” The boy took the tin out of the heating element, and the monarch peered over his shoulder at the apparent cake. The substance in the tin had increased dramatically in size and changed in hue. “What has happened to it?”

 

Steven turned out the cake onto a plate in waft of pleasant smelling steam. “It became something entirely new.” Yellow poked the cake with her finger and the golden cake bounced back.

 

“Incredible. Pink would have loved this.” She said with a reminiscent quality to her voice. 

 

Steven grew quiet. “What was she like?”

 

“She was very youthful. She was bright and happy. She was childish and naive. She loved change even though that doesn’t come naturally to our kind.” The Diamond felt an ache of grief as she thought of the youngest Diamond. 

 

He gave a small smile. “Do you still miss her?”

 

“In some ways yes, I still have regrets when it comes to her. Many times, I wish I had slowed down and cherished my time with her. But, that time has come to pass. And now, I am trying to change and move one.” It was true; she was trying to move on, now not just for the sake of the empire, but for herself.

 

The human laid a hand on her arm. “It’s okay if it’s hard for you. At least you're trying. And I want to help. I’m young, but maybe I could help with the empire or something.”

 

The monarch smiled at him. “Steven quite honestly, you’ve helped us enough but perhaps you could help in the future. However, those things are business and we can talk about them later. Right now is our personal time. What is the next step for the cake?”  Steven grinned at her then squinted at the recipe. “Well, now we make the frosting. It’s like a sweet topping we put on top." The two worked in content silence following the recipe for the chocolate frosting.

 

++++

 

“Whew! We did it.” Steven clapped his hands together. “It turned out great!” The chocolate frosted cake rested on the counter before them. The golden gem had to agree. “Indeed. I must admit that there is a great amount of satisfaction to be found at the end result.”

 

There was a loud thud as Lion jumped down from the loft. He slunk over and placed his large head on the counter.

 

“Lion!” Steven grinned happily. “Did you finish your nap?” The pink feline ignored him, snuffling around the counter towards the cake. Steven snatched the cake off the counter holding it high in the air. “Lion, no. You can’t have any cake.”

 

Lion chuffed angrily, then continued investigating the counter coming to the still open bag of flour.

 

The golden gem stared at the pink lion in slight disgust. “Steven, I honestly don’t understand why you keep this beast in your dwelling.”

 

Steven smiled still holding the plate. “Lion is part of the family. Isn’t that right Lion?” Lion stuck his snout into the opening of the bag. “Lion! That’s a bad idea!” Steven said nervously.

 

Lion snorted, sending out puffs of flour into the air. He whipped his head around, trying to dislodge the bad of flour from his nose. “Lion! NO DON’T!” With a giant sneeze, the bag shot off of his nose spraying flour all over the beach house.

 

Steven lowered his protective bubble in a flash of pink light. The entire kitchen was covered in fine white flour.

 

“LION!!” Steven yelled. Lion shook flour out of his mane an ran out the open screen door.

 

Steven set the cake on the flour covered counter and ran to the doorway. “Lion! Come back here and answer for what you’ve done!” But the pink feline had disappeared.

 

Steven sighed and turned around to Yellow who was wiping flour out of her eyes. “Oh Yellow, I’m so sorry about that!” He ran over and handed her a towel which she used to wipe flour off of her large gem. “He’s not usually a problem. I really am sorry.”

 

The Diamond shook the flour from her hair and chuckled.  “It’s alright Steven. I suppose all that really matters is that our cake was saved by your bubble.” She was right the cake on the counter was unharmed.

 

Steven rubbed the back of his neck and grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, I guess you're right.”

 

He looked up at the golden gem who was staring proudly at their creation and smiled.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you thought!


End file.
